• Progress Report - what it means

    Dear parent,

    You have just read through your child’s progress report card and are wondering what the grades really mean. How different is an A from a B? What is a D actually telling me?  Will a grade of F have a lasting effect on their ability to go to college?  Is C really average?

    1.       This is a progress report, not a quarter grade or a semester grade. This is purely advisory and will not impact GPA or college eligibility.

    2.       The progress report is the school's way of giving you a ‘heads up’ about how well they are doing so far.

    3.       The grades are based on between 2 and 4 weeks of work. Due to a number of factors including schedule changes, pretests, honors class eligibility tests,  teachers setting up the classroom rules and expectations, etc, there is generally less graded work in the first few weeks at the beginning of the school year compared to all other times afterwards.

    4.       A single missed assignment can have a huge impact. If a single 15 pt assignment is missed (and scored as zero), this could be as much as 30% missing from the progress report grade.

    5.       However- all is not lost! This really is a ‘heads up’. Teachers may allow the student to catch up late or missed work for either full or reduced points. In either case, please make sure your child takes this opportunity. Any points are good points! A key point to remember is that points are cumulative for the quarter term grade. Earning 5/10 pts for a late or missed essay might not sound much, but that is 5 points that the student is not missing later when the GPA does matter.

    6.       In all cases, if you have questions, do please contact your child’s teacher.

    Specific things that can be done to help improve or maintain a grade in classes:

    a.       Make sure all work is turned in.

    b.      If a class is missed, make sure that the student copies up any missed notes and obtains any points-based work. In most classrooms, the work due board and the work assigned boards are updated daily and should always be checked.

    c.       Keep up with the “do nows”.

    d.      Work turned in late (for fewer points) is much better than work not turned in at all (zero points). However, it is much better to turn it in on time (no points loss).

    e.      Students need to understand what is covered in class. Reread classroom notes for comprehension on a frequent basis. Cross check with the textbook. Once the central concepts are grasped, the details become much easier.

    f.        Academic tutoring is available on Tuesdays after school, with transportation home afterwards. This is free and run by the school.